The Deathless
by Meridian Vase
Summary: A sleeping evil from a time long past is awakened and wreaks havoc upon the inhabitants of Ithilien. Legolas and Gimli will risk everything to lay it back to rest.


…your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.

--_Heart of Darkness_

**Chapter 1:** Misgivings

Gimli ran his short, stubby fingers through his beard in an effort to disentangle the matted hairs. Goblin blood had splattered across his face and was proving to be a difficult chore to clean off. It was a thick, black sticky substance with a particularly nasty odor to it. He most certainly had experienced far more dirtier things in the past, but goblin blood never failed to infuriate him. Resisting the urge to simply rip his beard clean off, he roughly plaited it deciding that was all he could do for now. Gimli shouldered his axe and stomped off toward the entrance. His steel clad boots made a distinctive _**clink!**_ that echoed off the walls.

The sunlight momentarily blinded Gimli as his eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden brightness. His small party had trekked far into the cave when they had disturbed a group of sleeping goblins. They had easily fended off the attack with only minor scratches to show for it. His two companions Bali and Kali still remained inside. They had assured Gimli that they would join him shortly after Kali found the missing piece of his helm that had been broken off during the battle by one of the more enthusiastic goblins.

Bali and Kali were twins, which was an unusual occurrence among dwarves. When Gimli announced that he would be leaving for Ithilien, the twins both had been eager to join him even though it meant venturing into foreign lands home to unwelcoming elves.

Gimli was aware of the fact that neither twin had ever seen an elf in person before. They, of course, had only heard tales passed down by the elders that painted the elves in less than a favorable light. Gimli heard these tales as well in his youth, but managed to befriend an elf despite said-elf's ability to cause him profound annoyance. Gimli was initially surprised by the twins' lack of animosity toward the elves in Ithilien. Although the twins might not have been fond of the elven presence, Bali and Kali did not trade any insults with them remaining uncharacteristically close lipped during any and all interactions.

Gimli drew in a deep breath. The air was warm laced with the perfume of flowers in bloom. Casting a cursory glance about him, his eyes settled on the statuesque figure of an elf. Broad shouldered and black haired, this elf was no friend of Gimli. His name, if Gimli recalled correctly, was Thoredrith. He was a former renown captain of Mirkwood and valued friend of King Thranduil, which immediately set off warning bells in Gimli's head. Thranduil sent him to aid Legolas with the colony of elves that had been brought to Ithilien. Gimli's first meeting with Thoredrith had been an unpleasant experience. He made a great effort to avoid him from then on.

Gimli arrived in Ithilien a little over two weeks ago. Three days previous a patrol had discovered the cave and being a dwarf naturally Gimli wished to explore it. Legolas, having a spoken dislike of anything cave related, blatantly refused to go with Gimli. So for whatever mad reason Legolas decided, in that dense elven head of his, that it would be a good idea to send Thoredrith in his place. Thoredrith had not been pleased with this arrangement and neither had Gimli. Neither had been shy of showing their disdain for one another though out Gimli's visit. Gimli had a sneaking suspicion that Legolas had done this for his own amusement.

"You smell vile."

Gimli gritted his teeth.

"No better than an orc."

Thoredrith cocked an elegant eyebrow as a smirk stole across his lips.

Gimli desired nothing more than to hurl his axe into the fair elven face to wipe that smile off permanently, but that would spell far too many consequences that he was willing to deal with. Deciding it would simply be better to ignore him, Gimli plopped himself down on a boulder and unpocketed his pipe. He could see Thoredrith grimacing out the corner of his eye. Never had Gimli ever encountered an elf that enjoyed smoking. Scooping some pipeweed into his pipe, Gimli lit the leaf with a flourish . Not soon after a trail of smoke rings wafted into the air. Thoroughly relaxed by the sweet aroma, Gimli turned his gaze skyward watching a few wisps of cloud skirt past across the blue expanse.

It was truly a beautiful day.

However as beautiful as the day was, something felt strangely amiss. Perhaps it was simply paranoia… Gimli had learned throughout the years to always be wary of what was to come, what evil lurked in every shadow, what possible disaster that could unfold in a tiny crumbling of rock… Danger was everywhere and one would be a fool to pretend otherwise. _But where?_ That was the question. The goblins had been killed, what else was there to make him feel so…_wrong_?

He found his answer in the shuddering groan beneath his feet. Swearing loudly, Gimli rushed to the entrance bellowing with all his might.

"**_BALI! KALI! GET OUT_**!"

Gimli was too late.

His shout was drowned by the loud _**BANG**s**!**_ and _**CRACK**s**! **_of falling stone. Piercing screams tore through the air. The cacophony was deafening. Gimli's heart leapt to his throat. _No…_A plume of dust enveloped him. _No…By the Valar, no…_With a cry of rage, of heartache, and most of all guilt, Gimli collapsed to his knees in anguish.

The world had been brought to screeching halt, for Bali and Kali…and for Gimli.

**Review!**

**Author's Note:** Hello, everyone! Just wanted to let you know that criticisms are welcome...and I will heed them! I did a few quick changes to this chapter and will probably do more later on. I will try my best to make it flow better. :D Also Thoredrith's name might be changed if I can't find a better one before I post up the new chapter. I just sort of slapped it together while I was writing thinking it sounded vaguely elvish to me. Hah! :P


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